Game Rewind: Pacers 106, Raptors 115

For the second time in three nights, the Pacers went toe-to-toe with the Toronto Raptors. But once again, Indiana faltered down the stretch, this time going scoreless over three and a half minutes to allow the Raptors (38-14) to pull away for a 115-106 win on Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The loss was the fourth straight for Indiana (31-21) and came on the heels of giving up an 11-0 run to close the game in Wednesday's 119-118 loss in Toronto.

Domantas Sabonis had 19 points and 16 rebounds for Indiana and Victor Oladipo added a season-high 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting and four assists, but the Pacers couldn't string together enough stops to stave off the Raptors' offensive attack.

At times it felt like Indiana was playing tennis against a wall, as Toronto answered seemingly every big shot from the Blue & Gold.

Serge Ibaka led the Raptors with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Fred VanVleet added 20 points and seven assists for the defending NBA champions, who have now won a franchise-record 13 consecutive contests.

"They played well today," Oladipo said. "Credit them. They're a scrappy team. They are scrappy, simple as that, and they play well together. They have a great chemistry. You can tell they've been playing together for a long time."

Starting for the first time at home this season, Oladipo got off to a promising start. The two-time All-Star entered Friday's contest shooting just 24.5 percent in four games since returning from a year-long absence due to a ruptured quad tendon, but he connected on his first three attempts against Toronto.

Oladipo opened the scoring by utilizing a pump fake before side-stepping away from his defender and swishing a 3-pointer. He followed that with a right-handed floater on the next Pacers possession, then blew by his man for a reverse layup a little over a minute later.

Indiana led 27-26 following Malcolm Brogdon's layup with 1:44 left in the first quarter, but the Raptors closed the opening frame with a 10-4 run that included their sixth and seventh 3-pointers of the quarter to take a 36-31 lead into the second.

Toronto led 52-43 with 6:21 left in the third quarter following six straight points from Ibaka. Indiana answered, however, with a 13-4 run to climb back within one. That surge was capped by a memorable sequence where Jeremy Lamb hit a 3-pointer and then T.J. McConnell stole Rondae Hollis-Jefferson's inbounds pass and dished to Oladipo, who raced in from midcourt and converted an acrobatic layup that brought the home crowd to its feet and forced a Raptors timeout.

The Raptors maintained a narrow lead for the remainder of the half, though the Pacers had three chances to take the lead on their final possession of the second quarter.

Myles Turner drove and rose up for what would have been the dunk of the year, but threw it off the back iron. Oladipo corralled the rebound and got the ball back in Turner's hands, but he missed a three. Justin Holiday came down with yet another offensive board and Oladipo had a good look at a mid-range jumper, but that also rimmed out as Indiana headed to halftime trailing, 64-63.

Lamb finally gave Indiana the lead on a layup 1:02 into the third quarter, but the lead would be short-lived, as OG Anunoby put Toronto back in front with a corner three 14 seconds later. The Blue & Gold tied the game on three occasions over the next few minutes before the Raptors surged back ahead with nine unanswered points.

Indiana scored the last five points of the third quarter, holding Toronto scoreless over the final 3:05, to trim the deficit to 87-83 entering the fourth.

Raptors All-Star guard Kyle Lowry exited the game with 2:42 remaining in the third quarter with whiplash and did not return, a significant blow for the visitors. At the time of his injury, Lowry had already accumulated 16 points and 11 assists in 28 minutes.

Nonetheless, the visitors kept Indiana at bay for much of the fourth quarter. Seemingly every time the Pacers strung a bucket or two together, the Raptors would immediately score on the next possession to thwart any thoughts of a rally.

"We didn't do a good job of keeping the ball in front," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said. "When we had breakdowns on the perimeter, they're penetrating and kicking and they have five guys out there that can shoot the three ball."

Eventually, Terence Davis hit a 3-pointer with 5:16 remaining, then added a putback dunk at 4:39 to extend the Raptors' lead to 109-99.

Oladipo hit one of two free throws with 3:15 left for Indiana's first point since the 6:47 mark, but Pascal Siakam answered with a layup on the other end.

An Oladipo 3-pointer made it 111-103 with 2:45 to play, but another dunk from Davis with 1:46 remaining essentially put the game away for the visitors.

Six Pacers finished the night in double figures. Brogdon tallied 18 points, six rebounds, and eight assists, while fellow starter Lamb added 11 points. McConnell (12 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and two steals) and Justin Holiday (12 points and four boards) also joined the club off the bench.

Davis finished with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and eight boards off the bench for Toronto. Anunoby added 16 points and Siakam chipped in 15 points and four boards.

The Pacers won't have long to rest as they return to action on Saturday night, when they host rookie sensation Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back.

"We've just got to stay positive and stay together," Sabonis said. "We can't start pointing fingers at anybody...tomorrow we have another chance to try to get on the right track."

Sabonis recorded his 40th double-double of the season, just the seventh time a Pacer has had 40 or more double-doubles. The others to accomplish the feat include Troy Murphy, Clark Kellogg, Jermaine O'Neal (three times), and Detlef Schrempf.

Oladipo's 15 points were two more than he scored in Toronto and his four assists matched his season high set in his first game back on Jan. 29 against Chicago. He did, however, commit four turnovers, his most in his five games since returning to action.

Indiana outscored the Raptors 54-44 in the paint and 37-26 in bench points.

Ibaka recorded his 15th double-double of the season, while Lowry tallied his ninth.

Toronto outscored the Pacers 27-6 in fastbreak points.

The Raptors went 17-for-38 from 3-point range (44.7 percent), while the Pacers were just 10-for-34 (29.4 percent).

"They're a really good team. Obviously, it was tough to get stops. They have a lot of shooters. They're knocking down threes. They're getting downhill and then we have to rotate. It's tough to stop. Our defense has to be more connected in those areas and just try and run off shooters." -Sabonis

"In the first half we did a great job sharing the ball and playing defense. In the second half, we just turned the ball over a little too much and they responded off our turnovers. They made big shots that unfortunately we didn't. They're a good team, so give them credit." -Sabonis

"We're careless with the ball. I think we had 13 turnovers in the second half and those turnovers lead to transition points. Once again, they just kill us in transition with 27 fastbreak points." -McMillan

"I thought the intensity level the whole way through was way up there. I thought we were into it the whole 48 minutes. I thought we were playing well enough to maybe get away, we just couldn't get away at all. They were playing really good too, at the same speed, intensity and force. You know how those games come down to, somebody hits a couple at one end, somebody misses a couple at the other and all of a sudden the game's over." -Raptors head coach Nick Nurse

"The grit. The will to win. You know, we were up in the fourth quarter, late in the fourth. We just won the previous game when they were up just like this. We didn't want to make the same mistake, just grit it out, grind it out." -Davis on the difference down the stretch

The Pacers committed 20 turnovers on Friday, one shy of their season high, set on Jan. 20 in a loss at Utah.

The Pacers host Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 PM ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Find Tickets »

Papa John's Pacers90: The day after the Pacers score 90 or more points, you score 50 percent off online pizzas at regular menu price. Order online at papajohns.com with promo code PACERS90. Offer valid in Central Indiana.